The internet's first .com was registered 40 years ago today -- six years before the launch of the web
In 1985, at a time when we were listening to the likes of Careless Whisper by George Michael and Material Girl by Madonna, and getting ready to go Back to the Future, Symbolics Computer Corporation was developing Lisp machines for use in early AI work. On March 15, 1985, 40 years ago today, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based firm registered what was to be the world’s first .com domain name, symbolics.com.
In those days, well before the launch of the World Wide Web in 1991, requests were submitted by fax or mail and approved manually by the Stanford Research Institute under the Defense Data Network contract. The symbolics.com registration marked the beginning of commercial web addresses and came more than a decade before .com domain names became widely used by businesses and individuals.
Symbolics.com still exists today, but like everyone alive in 1985, it’s changed a lot over the years. In 2009, the domain was acquired by Aron Meystedt, founder of Napkin.com, and now serves a dual purpose as an internet history archive and an AI-powered domain name scoring tool.
It hasn’t been forgotten either. The domain still receives tens of thousands of visits each year from users interested in early internet milestones.
“I am very honored to own and control the world’s first registered domain name,” said Meystedt. “The visionaries at Symbolics Inc were kind enough to pass control to me 16 years ago, and I’ve been excited to maintain the name ever since.”
Events are scheduled to mark the domain’s 40th anniversary. At the CloudFest conference in Germany, a dedicated session on March 20 will highlight the development of domain names and the broader impact of the internet on global commerce. A public interest campaign tied to the site has also drawn attention, with over 18,000 people signing up to be notified of future updates or changes to the site.
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